


at the final breath that is drawn

by theoreticlove



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: It’s Not Really Major Character Death It’s Just Runaan, M/M, Nightmares, Runaan Gets Coined, TDP Spoilers, free him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21588601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoreticlove/pseuds/theoreticlove
Summary: ethari witnesses runaan’s imprisonment in a dream
Relationships: Runaan/Ethari (The Dragon Prince), Runaan/Tinker | Necklace Elf (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 147





	at the final breath that is drawn

The house is empty and deprived of all that makes it a home. Deprived of footsteps making the wood creak in the middle of the night as Rayla tried to sneak out, deprived of Runaan’s quiet laugh, deprived of loud chatter over dinner. Deprived of joy. 

Perhaps they are out there, somewhere. Perhaps they are safe. But they are not home and so Ethari worries, as he has worried for over a week now. 

The light of the moon shines through the window of his and Runaan’s bedroom, filtering onto Runaan’s side of the bed. Once, such a short time ago although already it feels like forever, the moon would have hit Ethari’s husband’s hair, his skin, the runes glowing on his skin. It would have been enticing, and Ethari would have traced the runes with his finger, would have run a hand through long, white hair. 

Tonight, however, he sleeps alone, curled in a blanket that doesn’t quite substitute the warmth of a body next to his.

“Goodnight, Runaan,” he whispers, blowing out the candle by his bedside. Somewhere, somehow, he hopes his husband is safe. That he is looking up at the same moon, thinking of him. 

Ethari closes his eyes and drifts off into sleep. 

_“Enough brooding, elf. My patience wears thin,” says a voice, dripping in impatience. “Tell me what you know about this relic, or I will seal your fate.”_

_Ethari cannot place the voice. Through the haze of his dream, he decides he does not like it._

_It is so far, but he can see Runaan, in the distance. He is in chains._

Runaan, _he tries to call, but no sound escapes him._ Runaan, my dearest, what is happening?

_The dream Runaan pays no attention to him and Ethari knows his voice has gone unheard._

_It is a dream. It is only a dream._

_“You have succeeded,” says dream Runaan._

_“Oh, have I?” Replies the voice, a hint of perhaps triumph seeping through. Arrogance._

_Ethari tries to turn, to see the relic, to get a closer look at the owner of the voice, of Runaan, of anything outside of this blurred haze. He cannot move._

_“That mirror? You have found something worse than death.”_

_“Then tell me: what is it?” Anger seeps into the voice._

_“I will never help you,” replies dream Runaan._

_What is going on?_

_“Then you are of no use to me.”_

_Something terrible is happening, of that Ethari is sure._

_There is a glowing purple light. A chant — dark magic. No._

_No. No, no._

_Runaan is screaming. No, no, it’s just a dream, simply a dream, he’s not really screaming, he’s not really being tortured. No, no._

_Runaan is screaming and Ethari cannot move and trapped and forced to watch his husband’s agony._

_The screaming stops and Runaan is gone._

_No._

“No!” Ethari cries, and wakes up with a gasp. No, no, not Runaan. 

The next thing Ethari knows, he’s tossed on his clothes and he is sprinting to the flower pool. He is guided through the streets by muscle memory alone.

It was just a dream.

It was just a dream.

Just a dream.

Wasn’t it?

He stops short of the edge of the water, eyes desperately searching for his husband’s flower as dawn breaks over the pool.

If he wakes the whole village up with his scream, he doesn’t care. 

Runaan isn’t coming home.

Runaan is gone.

**Author's Note:**

> free runaan from his coin please


End file.
